WASHINGTON COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) -Pines Elementary School has been a topic of discussion for years after suspicion surrounding the school’s air quality came to the forefront.
In 2021, the Piedmont Service Group performed a report revealing that high levels of mold were detected in the building.
Washington County Superintendent Linda Carr says a decision to close down the school wasn’t a second thought because it was long overdue.
“Hearing the results from the Piedmont Service Group, which did result from potential issues with mold, mildew, and a problematic roof over a number of years,” Carr said. “They made the decision to close that building basically overnight and we relocated the staff and students within a week period.”
Despite the school’s indefinite closure, some people feel that it should’ve been done sooner.
Vicki Barrera, who was a nurse at Pines Elementary from 2013-2016, says she was impacted by the mold, saying her doctor told her as much.
“She said I don’t know how you get up in the morning and I was like holy smokes,” Barrera said. “She said you have 90% mold toxicity in your body.”
And Barrera claims the mold problem goes back all the way to 2007.
“I knew there was mold there because we would go out for the summer and come back in and there would be mold growing on some of the teachers’ walls,” Barrera said. “Even on the back of their chair you could see the mold so they would come in and clean it. “They’d paint the wall and give us bags called red bags, I would put one in my office and at the end of the day it’d be full of moisture.”
Carr says the pandemic was the driving force behind bringing in Piedmont Service Group to handle the issue.
“Really if it wasn’t for COVID and that high attention to air quality with HVAC and what filters are you using I don’t know that we would’ve ordered an air quality study because you walk through the halls of that building and it’s just a normal everyday kind of school.”
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